Give Happiness to Yourself!

Like many, I am back on the treadmill. The combination of my see-f00d diet (I see it and eat it) and not enough exercise has taken its toil on me. I have to tell you I really do not like the treadmill--no matter what else I add to it. I have tried the television, the ipod, reading. It does not change the fact that I am on the treadmill. One cardiologist that I visited regularly to do the treadmill had a beautiful picture of the beach right in front of the treadmill. It did nothing for me either.

I learned something interesting today. Did you know that Sir William Cubitt invented the treadmill in 1817 as a tool to reform prisoners? Seems the idea of going nowhere for a long time using energy you wished you could save was thought to change behaviors. Maybe they figured that tired people do less wrong.

It took modern man a while (1952) to realize that tools for punishment had other redeeming values. Dr. Robert Bruce and Wayne Quinton, of the University of Washington, began using the treadmill for evaluating the severity of heart and lung disease. Their introduction of this into the field of medicine has saved many--including me!

I think the treadmill of life is what scares me. It is the day by day, week by week grind that seems to move ever so slowly or just go nowhere. All of us experience it at one time or another. It leads us to boredom or worst--burnout. I do not think anyone finds happiness staying on the treadmill.

This can happen in all areas of life. You find it most of the time in work and relationships. Most of the time, it is self imposed. We like to think that it is something that is external to us. But it really is within us. You see happiness and meaning is something you give yourself. Others do not make you happy. You choose happiness.

Martha Washington, wife of George, has an interesting perspective about staying off the treadmill of unhappiness. "I am still determined to be cheerful and to be happy in whatever situation I may be, for I have also learnt from experience that the greater part of our happiness or misery depends upon our disposition, and not upon our circumstances, we carry the seeds of the one or the other about with us, in our minds, wherever we go." (George Washington's Sacred Fire)

I think Jesus avoided the treadmills of life by using his time apart for prayer and resting. Yes, I think sometimes when Jesus went to lonely places it was just to rest. He knew too well the tug and pull of life. Jesus knew the stabbings of critics, the unending pressure for more, and the inner struggles of life were overwhelming.

So I will get on the treadmill when I cannot do something else. But it only for a short while and only to exercise and combat the urge to consume more. But in the rest of life, I run from the treadmill for it takes the life out of me.

Like Jesus, I need to find a place to just be--be with God and be at rest. Then I am ready to meet life with all the life I have to give. I choose to give happiness starting with myself.